our country has come a the economy. our country has come a long way since president biden and i took office. at that time, we sadly remember the millions of americans that were out of work. we were facing one of the worst economic crises in modern history. and today, by virtually every measure, our economy is the strongest in the world. applause we have created 16 million newjobs. we have created 16 million newjobs. we have created 16 million newjobs. we have made historic investments in infrastructure, ships manufacturing, clean energy. i knew numbers this week alone show that inflation is down under 3%. applause

and as president of the united states, it will be my intention to build on the foundation of this progress. still, we know, that many americans don't yet feel that progress in their daily lives. costs are still too high. on a deeper level, for too many people, no matter how much they earn, it feels, so hard just to be able to get ahead. i will be laser focused to create opportunities for the middle class that advance their economics security, security and dignity. to their gather, we will build, what i call an opportunity economy. an opportunity economy. an economy where everyone can compete and have a real chance to succeed. everyone,

regardless of who they are or where they start, has an opportunity to build wealth for themselves and their children. and, where, we remove the barriers to opportunity. so anyone who wants to start a business, advance their career, can access the tools and the resources that are necessary to do so. i will focus on cutting _ that are necessary to do so. i will focus on cutting needless - that are necessary to do so. i will focus on cutting needless be - that are necessary to do so. in ii focus on cutting needless be missy and unnecessary regulatory red tape. and encouraging... innovative technologies while protecting consumers. and creating a stable business environment with consistent and transparent... of the road. as

president i will bring together labour with small businesses and major companies to invest in america. to create good jobs, achieve broad—based growth and ensure that america continues to define the future and lead the world. and key, key, to creating this opportunity economy is building up our middle class. cheering it is essential. the middle class is one of america's greatest friends. to protect it we must defend basic principles. such as your salary

should be enough to provide you and yourfamily with a should be enough to provide you and your family with a good quality of life. such as no child should have to grow up in poverty. such as, after years of hard work, you should be able to retire with dignity. and you should be able to join a union if you choose. building up the middle class, is the defining goal of my presidency because i strongly believe, when the middle class is strong, and is strong. —— america is strong. so, in the weeks to come, i will address in greater detail my

plans to build opportunity economy. and today, ifocus plans to build opportunity economy. and today, i focus on one element thatis and today, i focus on one element that is on the minds of many americans as they pay their bills at the kitchen table or walk the aisles of a grocery store. and that is lowering the cost of living. so every day across our nation, families talk about their plans for the future. their ambitions. their aspirations. for themselves, for their children. and they talk about how they are going to achieve them financially. because, look, the bills add up. third, rent, gas, back to school clothes, prescription medication. after all that, for many families, there is not much left at

the end of the month. i grew up in a middle—class household, for most of my childhood, we were renters. my mother saved for well over a decade to buy a home. i was a teenager when that day finally came. and i can remember so well how excited she was. i kind of understood what it meant, mummy was so excited, itjust made us excited that she was excited. later, in college, iworked at mcdonald's two and spending money. while some of the people i worked with, where raising families on that paycheque. they work second or even third jobs to pay rent and buy food. that only gets harder when the cost of living goes up. when i am elected president, i will make it

am elected president, i will make it a top priority to bring down costs and increase economic for all americans. i will take on that... like the cost of food. we all know that prices went up during the pandemic when the supply chains shut down and failed. but our supply chains have now improved. and prices are still too high. a loaf of bread cost 50% more today than it did before the pandemic. ground beef is “p before the pandemic. ground beef is up almost 50%. many of the big food companies are seeing their highest profits in two decades. and, while, at many grocery chains pass along these savings, others still aren't.

look, i know, most businesses are creating jobs, contributing to our economy and playing by the rules. but some are not. and that is just not right. and we need to take action when that is the case. applause i went after companies in this crisis, including wholesalers that inflated the price of prescription medicine. and companies that conspired with competitors to keep prices of electronics high. i won more than $1 billion for consumers. so believe me, as president, i will

go after the bad

he wants to impose a national sales tax on everyday products and basic necessities we import from other countries. that will devastate americans. it will mean higher prices onjust about americans. it will mean higher prices on just about every one of your daily needs. a track tax on gas, a trump tax on food, a trump tax on clothing. —— a trump tax on over—the—counter medication. economists have done the maths. donald trump's plan will cost a typical family $3900 a year. at this moment, when everyday prices are too high, he will hack them even higher.

i will take on the issue of the cost of health care stop as attorney general i took on insurance companies and big pharma and got them to lower prices and together with president biden, we have gone even further. we have capped the price of insulin at $35 a month, and the total cost... cheering and the total cost at $2000 a year for seniors. we let medicare negotiate lower drug prices for seniors, and just yesterday, just yesterday, we announce that we are lowering the price by up to 80% for ten more life—saving drugs. cheering

and i pledge to continue this progress. i will lower the cost of insulin and prescription drugs for everyone, with your support. and demand transparency from the middlemen who operate between big pharma and the insurance companies who use opaque practices, to raise your drug prices and profit off your need for medicine. two months ago i announced that medical debt will no longer be set against your credit score. applause and i will work, as president, with states like here in north carolina, roy cooper thank you again, to cancel medical debt for millions

more americans. applause as for donald trump, well, he wants to repeal the affordable care act. which 45 million americans rely on, 45 million americans rely on it for health care. that would take us back to a time when insurance companies could deny people with pre—existing conditions. we'll remember what that was. and we are not going back. i remember, because we do remember, he tried to cut medicare, every year that he was president, threatening a

programme that tens of millions of seniors count only, and according to his project 2025 agenda, he intends to undo our work to undo, the cost of prescription drugs and insulin costs. we have come too far to let that happen. applause so, we are not going back on that. and let's talk about the cost of housing. so, now, the housing market can be complicated. but on this issue, as state attorney general i drafted and helped pass a homeowner bill of rights. one of the first in america, and during the foreclosure crisis, i took on the big banks for predatory lending with many of my

colleagues including roy cooper, and we won $20 billion for california families when i was attorney general. so, i know how to fight for people that are being exploited in the housing market. and i know what homeownership means. it is more than a financial transaction. it is so much more than that. it is more than a house. homeownership and what that means is a symbol of the pride that comes with hard work, it is financial security what you will be able to do for your children. and, sadly, right now it is out of reach

forfar sadly, right now it is out of reach for far too sadly, right now it is out of reach forfar too many american sadly, right now it is out of reach for far too many american families. there is a serious housing shortage. in many places it is too difficult to build, and it is driving prices up. as president, i will work in partnership with industry, to build the housing we need, both to rent and to buy. we will take down barriers and cut red tape, including at the state and local level. and, by the end of my first term, you will end america's housing shortage by building 3 million new homes that are affordable, for the middle class. applause and together, we will do that

together. and we will make sure that those homes actually go to working and middle class americans, not trump's investors, because some corporate landlords, some of them by dozens if not hundreds of houses and apartments, then they turned them around and rent them out at extremely high prices. and they can make it impossible, then, for regular people to be able to buy or even rent a home. some corporate landlords collude with each other to set artificially high rental prices. often using algorithms and price—fixing software to do it. it is anti—competitive, and it drives up is anti—competitive, and it drives up costs. i will fight for a law

that cracks down on these practices. applause we also know that, as the price of housing has gone up, the size of down payments has gone up as well. and if aspiring homeowners save for years, it often still is not enough. so, in addition while we work on the housing shortage, my administration will provide first—time home—buyers with $25,000 to help put the down payment on a new home. cheering we can do this... all to help more

americans experience the pride of homeownership, and the financial security that it represents. so that is my plan. but here is what donald trump would do. if his project 2025 agenda is put in, it will add around $1200 a year to the typical american mortgage. he has got it backward. we should be doing everything we can to make it more affordable to buy a home, not less. applause finally, there is one more way that i will help families deal with rising costs. and that is by letting you keep more of your hard earned money. applause under my plan, more than 100 million

americans will get a tax cut, and we will do this by restoring tax cuts designed to help middle class and working americans. the earned income tax credit... and the child tax credit. cheering through which millions of americans with children get to keep more of their hard earned income. we know that this works. and it has direct impact on so many issues including child poverty. we know that it works. so we will not only restore that tax cut but expand it. we will provide $6,000 of tax relief to families during the first year of a child's life. think what that means. think what that means. that is a

vital year of critical development of a child. and the cost can really add up especially for young parents who need to buy clothing and car seats and so much else. and we will do this and exploded the national deficit. i think there's if you want to know who someone cares about, look who they fight for. cheering donald trump fights for billionaires and large corporations and i will fight to give money back to middle and working class americans. i will end with this. —

and working class americans. i will end with this. two _ and working class americans. i will end with this. two days _ and working class americans. in ii end with this. two days ago and working class americans. iw ii. end with this. two days ago donald trump was here in north carolina. booing he said he was going to talk about the economy. i think you all watch. you know what i'm about to say. but he offered no serious plans to reduce costs for middle—class families. no plan to expand access to housing or health care. and that, actually, i think, for most of us was not surprising. because we already know his plans. we know the project 2025 agenda. so, there is a choice in the selection. donald trump's plans to devastate the middle class, punish working people, and make the cost of living go up for millions of americans and, on the other hand, when i am elected president, what we will do...

cheering what we will do to bring down costs, increase the security and stability financially of your family, and expand opportunity for working and middle class americans. so, now, now is the time to chart a new way forward. now is the time to chart a new way forward, to build... crowd chants a new way forward! to build an america _ crowd chants a new way forward! to build an america where _

crowd chants a new way forward! to build an america where everyone's - build an america where everyone's work is rewarded, where we were prettily bad business to strengthen the american economy and, where everyone has the opportunity, not just to get by, but to get ahead. so, i thank you, north carolina, we will get this done, and god bless you, and god bless the united states of america. god bless you. cheering studio: kamala harris there amongst her supporters in north carolina. our north america correspondent nomia iqbal was listening to that speech. drawing on her middle—class roots. speech. drawing on her middle-class roots. . . . speech. drawing on her middle-class roots. ., ., ., ., , ., . roots. kamala harris has a much easier way _ roots. kamala harris has a much easier way of — roots. kamala harris has a much easier way of talking _ roots. kamala harris has a much easier way of talking about - roots. kamala harris has a much easier way of talking about the l easier way of talking about the economy in a way that president biden probably wasn't able to, because he would talk about the fact

that inflation was getting better, that inflation was getting better, that the economy was growing faster, that the economy was growing faster, that unemployment was low, but what kamala harris did there, which was quite noticeable, was to draw on her own experiences of working at mcdonald's, i know what it was like buying a house, even though you work hard all the time it doesn't feel like you're getting anywhere, you don't feel like you are earning much money so she has this kind of empathy about her, which is what sets her apart from president biden. just to note, north carolina is a key battleground state. it has had four decades of republican victories interrupted by barack obama, joe biden lost it by two percentage points in 2020, the poll suggested he was pretty much behind donald trump when he was looking to be the nominee for the democratic party, but a recent opinion poll shows that harris and trump are statistically tied so, winning north carolina is

quite key for kamala harris, to be unveiling herfirst major quite key for kamala harris, to be unveiling her first major policy platform. unveiling her first ma'or policy latform. . ~ unveiling her first ma'or policy latform. ., ~' ,, unveiling her first ma'or policy latform. ., ~ i. ., .,, unveiling her first ma'or policy latform. ., ~ ., ., ., platform. thank you, that was nomia lubal. this platform. thank you, that was nomia iqbal- this is — platform. thank you, that was nomia iqbal. this is ssc — platform. thank you, that was nomia iqbal. this is bbc news. _ hello there. it felt warm in the sunshine earlier today. and over the weekend, there will be some more sunshine at times. very quiet weather over the weekend. not too much changing from one day to the next. many places will remain dry. this was the picture earlier today. that weather front brought rain and has moved to the south of us. we are seeing more cloud coming into northern parts of scotland and that is where we see the showers. but there was not too much cloud in the midlands today, lovely and warm in the sunshine. last night, we saw some big differences in the weather. 18 celsius in kent, three celsius last night in aberdeenshire, but things will be different overnight tonight.

we have stronger winds in the north, they will tend to ease. showers becoming fewer, and many places becoming dry overnight. to the south we have the clearer skies and lighter winds. temperatures as low as seven celsius in southern england and the midlands, not as cold as last night in the north—east of scotland. starting off on a sunny note for much of the country tomorrow. there will be some cloud build—up, some showers threatening the north—west of england and northern ireland and western scotland, but many places will have a dry day. we will see more sunshine across the south—east of england and east anglia. this is where we will have the highest temperatures similar to today. should be a bit warmer in the sunshine in north—east scotland. this high over the azores, low pressure toward scandinavia leaving us with a run of westerly winds, which may pick up a little bit as we head into sunday, particularly in the south, where we should see a lot of sunshine on sunday, most of the build—up of cloud is further north, with the the bulk of showers coming into western scotland.

for the most part it will be dry. temperatures for most of us not changing much. could be a little bit cooler in scotland and northern ireland. some changes on the way for the start of next week. pressure is going to be dropping here in the atlantic and cloud and rain will be moving in, but it will start off dry and sunny, in the west we will feel the winds picking up, the southwest and over the irish sea. cloud thickening in western areas to bring some wet weather particularly into northern ireland and western scotland but ahead of that for the midlands and eastern england it should stay dry and there will be some sunshine, and it will feel warm, with temperatures in the mid 20s.

hello, i'm ben brown. you're watching the context on bbc news. kamala harris launches her plan to make an opportunity economy if she wins the election in november. president biden says we're not there yet, but closer — as the three countries trying to mediate a ceasefire and hostage release in gaza present a new proposal to israel and hamas. ukraine says the aim of its cross—border offensive into russia is to force moscow into what it calls "fair peace talks".